Realization
by Miko in training
Summary: What happens when Adrien and his friends gather together? Someone intends to say something about their mutual friends, only for Adrien to realize something that had been staring him in the face for so long that he was blind to it.


**So of course, with the second part of Season 2 out on Netflix now, I find Season 3 on YouTube. The first episode in English and the second in French. I binge watched the second part of season two so now I have all kinds of ideas. This came to me while I was working on a different Miraculous story and it doesn't really fit into anything I am working on, but I feel like it still needs to be shared. So, this is a one shot with the hope that you all will like it too. Enjoy!**

 **Realizing the Obvious**

The final bell of the day rang as students started packing up their things to head home for the weekend. Adrien took his time putting his books in his bag seeing as he didn't have a photoshoot right after school, so there was no rush home.

"Hey dude." Nino said patting Adrien's shoulder. "Some of the guys and I are going to be hanging out on Luka's mom's boat tomorrow. Want to come with us? It won't be till the afternoon. Luka has some school work to do in the morning so if you have a photoshoot before then you can come right after."

Adrien gave him a smile before nodding his head. "Sure Nino. That sounds great. I'll check with Nathalie to make sure I don't have anything, and I'll see you at the boat tomorrow or I'll text you." He assured is best friend.

"Awesome dude, see you tomorrow." Nino waved goodbye before catching up with his girlfriend and walking her home.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and was stepping into the aisle when a head hit his shoulder. Having the cat like reflexes that he does, he managed to turn and steady himself as well as the person that bumped into him. "Easy, you okay?" he asked before noticing who it was. "Running late again Marinette?" he teased with a grin.

"Oops, sorry. Yeah, I promised to dad baking with the help. I mean baking help with the dad. I mean…" Marinette sputtered out.

"Help your dad with the baking?" Adrien offered. He knew she could get flustered sometimes and she was getting better at it but if she was in a rush it was almost hopeless.

Marinette took a deep breath before answering. "Exactly. I really have to run, have a weekend nice." She sputtered again.

He chuckled as she went past him. "You have a nice weekend too, Marinette."

Once she was out the door and out of sight, he was the last one in the classroom. That meant Plagg had a chance to come out and talk to him. And recently he's been going on about Marinette any chance he got. "Flirting with your secret love once again I see, little Casanova."

"You know my only love is Ladybug." He chided his Kwami. "Besides, she's always like that when she's in a hurry."

"Sure, kid keep telling yourself that. One day you're going to realize what is right in front of you. Now can I have some cheese? When we get home, you're going to sit and do homework while I starve if I don't get some now." Plagg said shaking his head before giving his chosen a kitty pout to make him give in.

"Fine, but you can't interrupt me tonight. We have a test on Monday and I need to study for it. Not to mention everything I will have to do tonight to be able to hang out with my friend's tomorrow afternoon." He reminded him.

"Cheese!" Plagg insisted. With a sigh Adrien handed the Kwami a piece of Camembert before opening his outer shirt for his little friend to hide inside before heading down to the front of the school to get picked up by his driver.

The next day Adrien did his Chinese and Fencing lessons in the morning before getting permission to head over to his friend's boat house to spend some quality time with his friends thanks to Nathalie. As he walked up the plank, he was greeted by Nino and Max, who were chatting about some tune ups for Nino's mixing program.

"Hey Guys." Adrien called with a wave as he made it on board.

"Greetings Adrien. It's wonderful that you could make it out today. Your father must be in a good mood." Max said adjusting his glasses with a grin.

"Yeah, I mean your old man almost never lets you hang out like a normal teen." Nino agreed as he threw an arm over his best friend's shoulder.

"I think he's starting to get better. After all he did finally show up for a fashion show." Adrien tried to rectify.

"This is true. It's good to see things are starting to look up for you my friend."

"Well if it isn't mister lock up." Kim called as he made it on board. "Your pops let you out for once. That's great."

"Just said the same thing, dude." Nino said with a laugh. "Come on, now that everyone is here, let's head inside. Luka said he wanted to show us something."

The four boys headed inside and made it to Luka's room before closing the door. "Hey guys, glad you could make it." Luka said as he stopped playing for a moment.

"Of course, it's always fun to hang out with you. You know, when it's not to practice." Nino joked making the other boys laugh.

They chatted about school and other things for a while before Luka asked Kim a question. "So how are things going with Ondine? I heard you guys were fighting not too long ago. Everything good?"

"Yeah, I ran late for a date one night and she was kind of mad at me for like a week. I made it up to her and we're good again, but I promised to set an alarm and reminders for our dates from now on. She is seriously scary when she's mad." Kim explained.

"Tell me about it. Alya's great and all but if I try to stop her from chasing after an Akuma, I am so glad looks can't kill. I thought her sister Nora was intimidating, dude. When she's upset or mad, I'm pretty sure she could give Nora a run for her money. Thankfully its mostly at her little sisters and not at me." He paused before looking around and rapping his knuckles on some wood. "Knock on wood."

"It is quite lucky that you two have found such wonderful girls. I still await the meeting of someone I could truly care for." Max said hopeful.

"Don't worry Max. There is someone out there for all of us. It's still early in our lives to find the perfect one for us." Adrien said with a pat on his friend's shoulder.

"That's easy for you to say Agreste. You have girls falling at your feet for you." Luka said with a twinge of a tone in his voice.

"Those girls just want fame and probably my dad's money. None of them care about the real me. When I find that perfect girl for me, she will care about the person behind the picture and not just what's on the outside." Adrien clarified.

"Deep dude." Nino commented.

"Whose to say you haven't already met that girl." Luka said as he tuned his guitar.

"What do you mean?" Kim, Max, and Adrien asked a little confused. Nino on the other hand was looking a little nervous.

"Tell me something, cause my sister is completely quiet about stuff that goes on at school. Do any of the girls treat Adrien different, or act odd around him?" Luka asked as he gave the other boys a sideways look.

Max was the first to speak up. "Chloe is always calling Adrien pet names and hanging on him. Are those the kind of things you were talking about?"

"Kind of but more subtle."

"Well, Lila is always flirting with him. You even seemed a little unnerved when she got close to you when she came back." Kim offered.

"I already knew Lila likes me. Ladybug told me when she outed her for saying she knew Ladybug when she really didn't." Adrien explained.

"Closer but subtler." It was quiet as the boys thought about it. Luka decided to put them out of their misery. "What about Mari…"

Nino quickly cut him off. "Maria! You know, the girl two classrooms down from us. She keeps eyeing Adrien during breaks."

"Kind of but not who I was thinking of." Luka said stepping in. "Marinette."

"Marinette?" the three boys called out surprised.

"She stutters when she's nervous, trips over her own feet and is very humble. She takes praise with a grain of salt." Luka informed them.

"A lot of people are like that. Nathanial for one, or Sabrina. That doesn't prove anything." Nino tried to argue.

"Except that Marinette only does that around one person. Not everyone." Luka rectified.

"Who?" the three boys asked while Nino muttered under his breath how Alya was going to murder him.

Luka didn't even have to say anything. He merely pointed to the blond in the room. "ME?!" Adrien yelled out in absolute shock. "Marinette has a hard time saying anything to… me…"

Adrien allowed his head to fall into his hands as realization struck. "Dude, why did you have to go blow that in?" Nino asked rather upset now.

"He has a right to know so Marinette can accept his rejection and move on to someone else." Luka explained.

"Who said he was going to reject her? Marinette is amazing." Kim shot back.

"I calculate that Adrien and Marinette being a rather impressive couple. Not to mention long lasting." Max said as he seemed to do some type of math in his head while adjusting his glasses.

"Wait a minute… Nino, you knew?" Adrien asked he best friend.

"Dude, remember what I said about Alya? I am going to be laying so low after today, you might not find me for a year. She swore me to secrecy. I couldn't tell a soul. Not even Marinette! And it's _her_ secret!" Nino defended himself. "But mister big mouth had to go and say something." Nino said shooting Luka a dark look.

"I didn't know it was some big secret. I just wanted to look out for Marinette. If she was going to waste her time tailing after a boy that was never going to give her the time of day when she could be with someone who cares about her, isn't that better for her? Like ripping off a bandage." Luka argued, trying to defend himself.

"Are you implying that Adrien wouldn't take Marinette's feelings into consideration? He knows how wonderful Marinette is." Kim argued.

"I believe there is a very simple solution to this argument." Max spoke up finally as he broke up the fight before it started.

"What do you suggest Max?" Adrien asked as he came back to his surroundings.

"Why don't you name off what you are looking in a girl. That way we can either rule out Luka's insensitivity or confirm that you really would reject Marinette due to you not having the same feelings for her."

"That actually seems fair. I can inform Alya and she can break it to Marinette gently instead of me needing to cower from her wrath when she finds out you know." Nino agreed. Luka sighed before leaning back against the wall and waited for the results.

"Alright, well for one, she has to be very considerate and kind to others. A wonderful personality that shines through to everyone she encounters, even people that don't like her. Sure, she can have a temper, what person doesn't, but she doesn't let it control her actions. She'll know when to take a step back and look at the situation from another angle. Outgoing and creative so we can plan to do things that don't stick us inside all the time." As he named off Ladybug's personality, he started to day dream about her as he spoke. Getting a far-off look in his eyes. "Beautiful blue-bell eyes that sparkle like stars in the night sky, and dark hair that shimmers in the sunlight. Lips that…"

"Dude! We get it!" Nino cut in popping Adrien's day dream bubble of his lady. "Max, what is the verdict?"

Max grinned at them before adjusting his glasses once more. "It would appear that you replicate Marinette's feelings."

"Wait… Really?" Adrien asked astonished.

"If you don't believe me, I do have Markov here to give a non-judgmental result." He said opening his bag and allowing his robotic friend out.

"Hello everyone, I apologize but I have been listening and given my knowledge of all of Max's classmates I can easily deduce the person Adrien described." Markov replied.

"Go for it, Markov." Kim said excitedly.

Markov's eyes turned into a stopwatch symbol as he went over the data Adrien described. As the watch reached it's end there was a ding before his eyes went back to normal. "Results are in. Given the personality described by Adrien I can easily deduce that throughout everyone I have met or come to know, Marinette Dupain-Chang is 100% the girl Adrien described."

"So, it would be safe to say that Adrien wouldn't reject Marinette's feelings that she has for him, right?" Nino asked.

"The probability of Adrien rejecting Marinette would be…" he did a quick calculation. "5.1846473 percent. In other words, if he was stupid or crazy, he would not date Marinette."

The other boys laughed at that comment. Adrien on the other hand couldn't think of what to say. He loved Ladybug, but Markov and the other boys were saying that he had described Marinette. How could that be? "I-I think I need to go. You all gave me a lot to think about."

"I'll walk you out. This must have been a lot." Luka said as he put down his guitar.

As the two headed for the bedroom door, Adrien waved goodbye to his friends before walking out with Luka following. It wasn't a long walk up to the top deck but when they reached it, Luka stopped him for a moment with a hand on his shoulder. "Let me give you some advice. If you don't make a move on Marinette soon, someone else will. She's a great girl, and I won't let anything bad happen to her, even if it means keeping her away from you." He gave Adrien's shoulder a squeeze before walking back below deck.

Adrien stared after him for a few moments before heading off the ship. He didn't bother calling his body guard, he needed to think for a while. He found a park bench and sat down to think everything over. Plagg took this opportunity to put in his two cents. "You know kid, all this thinking isn't going to give you a solution."

"How is not thinking about Marinette being in love with me going to solve my problem?" Adrien asked bewildered.

"Simple, eat some cheese." Plagg said holding up a piece of Camembert.

"Stinky old cheese is not going to help me Plagg. This is an actual problem. Marinette is in love with me, but I love Ladybug. What am I going to do?" he asked holding his head.

Plagg floated back into his jacket. "Not like they're one and the same." He muttered.

Adrien froze for a moment before grabbing Plagg and bringing him back up to eye level. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Plagg said like someone just threatened to take away his stash of cheese.

"No, you said, 'Not like they're one and the same.' You saw Ladybug de-transform. Now I know I promised her that I would respect her wish, but this is a literal live or die situation. You need to answer one question Plagg. Just one, and if you give an honest answer. You can have all the Camembert cheese you can eat for a month."

Plagg's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "Are you serious?"

Adrien held up his credit card. "I have enough saved on here from every week's allowance to buy Camembert every day for five months, but you only get unlimited for one. Do we have a deal?"

Plagg looked from Adrien, to his card, to the piece of Camembert cheese in the Kwami's little paws. "Only one answer?"

"One Truthful, straight forward answer Plagg. No beating around the cheese wheel." Adrien clarified.

Plagg thought about it for another moment before downing his cheese with a gulp. "Ask away."

"When we de-transformed in the cargo box while fighting Dark Owl. Did Ladybug have on a pair of pink pants and a white print flowered shirt?"

"Wow, that is very specific details. Are you sure you didn't peak?" Plagg teased.

"Plagg." Adrien said in warning before waving his card a little.

"Okay, okay. Don't get your pants in a twist. Yes, when Ladybug was de-transformed in the crate with you, she was indeed wearing pink pants and a white print flowered shirt." The little black Kwami of destruction admitted.

A smile came to Adrien's face before he got up and bolted towards Marinette's parent's bakery. He had a lady to talk to.

It hadn't taken him long to make it to the bakery. However, there was a line out the door to get inside. He politely explained that he was only there to see a friend, not to buy anything. The person at the door was kind enough to let him inside. Adrien quickly made it to the counter where Mrs. Dupain-Chang was giving a costumer change for their purchase. "Hello, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. Is Marinette home by any chance? I need to talk to her. It's kind of important." He explained quickly.

"She's up in her room, go on and head up." She told him before Adrien shot up the stairs with a hurried 'Thank you.' She looked after him for a moment before shrugging. "He'll figure out the other girls are up there soon enough."

Adrien seemed to take the stairs two or three at a time as he hurried up them to get to his lady. Vagally, he recalled once calling her 'purincess' for fun. Though now maybe he could call her that outside of the suit. As he reached the top of the stairs, he knocked on the apartment door only for there to be no response. He knocked again only to get the same result. Finally, he opened the unlocked door and checked to see if Marinette was in the living room or kitchen. Seeing no sign of her he stopped and heard giggling from above. "Her room." Bounding up the stairs he lifted the hatch of his love's room, calling her name. "Marinette!"

Everything seemed to slow down as he stopped at the last step. There before him was a red-faced Marinette, as well as Alya, Juleka, Rose, Mylene, and Alix. All of who were now staring at the unexpected guest. "Adrien? I thought you were hanging out with Nino and the guys at Luka's place?" Alya finally asked, coming to the realization that her best friend's crush was now standing in said friend's bedroom.

"I was, but um… do you think I could talk to Marinette alone for a little bit. I know you all are probably in the middle of something, but this kind of can't wait." He asked as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Sure, while you're talking to her, I will be calling Nino and finding out what happened to bring you running all the way over here." Alya said as she waved her phone and made her way past the model. The other girls soon followed and closed the door behind them.

It was quiet for a few minutes before he gained the courage to look at Marinette in the eye. "Hey Marinette. Sorry for barging in like this, but I couldn't wait another minute without telling you something." He stepped closer to her so he was far enough away from the trap door that if the other girls were listening, they couldn't over hear their conversation.

Marinette seemed to finally come out of her petrification. "Oh, w-what did you want to tell me?"

Adrien paused for a few moments, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Maybe we should sit down." He offered indicating to the chaise. Without a word Marinette moved and sat down on her chaise and waited for Adrien to speak, a pink dusting of a blush on her cheeks. Adrien went to take a step forward only to look back at the trap door and then look around. Finding a moveable book shelf, he moved it on top of the trap door before heading over to Marinette and sitting down. "The reason I wanted to talk to you is because something was brought to my attention recently. Well, more like two things really, but let's focus on the first one at the moment."

"O-okay." Marinette muttered nervously.

"The guys and I were talking, and Luka brought up Kim's relationship and it kind of escalated into girls basically throwing themselves at my feet and how…" He glanced over at Marinette who was both confused and nervous. "I guess what I am trying to say is Luka gave the impression that someone in class has feelings for me. After a few guesses, he blatantly said it was you. Nino kind of confirmed it but that's beside the point. You see I was shocked, one of my best friends was in love with me and I didn't even realize it. How stupid am I?"

"You're not stupid!" Marinette scolded, shocking Adrien into looking her in the eyes instead of her floor. "You are kind and considerate, and want to help people, even if it means you get hurt."

A soft smile came to his face at her words. "When I had doubts about if it was true that you loved me, the guys actually had me describe what my perfect girl would be like. So, I started naming off qualities, but the thing is, I was thinking of someone else. I didn't tell the guys that, and when they had Markov give the results from a non-subjective point of view, the result was you. So, you can understand how I was confused. The girl I had imagined turned out to be someone else. So, I told the guys I needed some space to think, so I went for a walk. I found a secluded place to think and then a friend gave me some advice. It was really good advice and I owe them a lot." He peaked over at Marinette again and saw the slightly sad pout on her lips and small droop of her eyes. "He told me, 'Not like they are one and the same.' I stopped for a moment and actually thought about it and even though he was sworn to secrecy he was able to answer my one question completely honestly, which is a big deal for him because he likes to be very vague and unhelpful." This got a little laugh out of Marinette and took away her sad face for a moment. Gently he placed his hand on hers before looking her in the eyes, trying to express all the adoration and love he has for her.

"W-what was y-your q-question?" she asked a little nervous.

He waited a moment before leaning in and whispering what he had asked. Pulling away, he watched as Marinette's face went through many different expressions, from confusion, to shock, to more confusion, until her face went completely red and she gave a slight quiver of a questioning response. "Kitty?" her voice was just above a whisper, but it seemed to travel in the silence that surrounded them.

"Hello, M'Lady." He replied quietly.

"But I… you… Gorilla… and… Jackady… you were… all the time?" Marinette muttered out incoherently.

"The whole time M'Lady. Even with Troublemaker." He teased lightly with a wink.

It was silent for a few more minutes before a squeaky voice came from Marinette's desk. "If you know, there is no need for me to hide around you." Tikki said as she came out of her hiding spot.

"Finally!" Plagg cheered quietly so as not to alert the teens downstairs. "Now can I have some cheese?" he asked excitedly.

"You told him, for cheese Plagg?!" Tikki yelled at the little Kwami of destruction.

"He made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and for the record I never said her name!" he defended himself to his counterpart. "Besides Sugar cube, if I didn't tell him She would be with Luka and not Adrien right now." He turned to face his chosen. "Don't think I didn't hear what that guy said to you." He scolded.

"So, you're saying you would have told me in your own way without the reward of cheese." Adrien teased.

"No… Maybe. I just don't like that Luka guy. He threatened to take your love away from you and even though I am the god of destruction, I don't like seeing my kitty's hurt. Sue me." He said angrily before heading up to Marinette's bed to pout.

"I'll go talk to him." Tikki said before following him up to the loft, leaving the two alone.

"What did Luka tell you?" Marinette asked more curious than ever at what a nice guy like Luka could have said.

"He…" Adrien rubbed his neck again before taking a deep breath and explaining. "He said that if I didn't make a move on you soon, someone else will, meaning him. And he promised he wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, even if it meant keeping you away from me, permanently. At least the permanent part was implied." He rectified.

"Oh, it was implied!" A call from above them said.

"Okay, so Luka likes me and I'm guessing with how you are now here and not with our other friends that he had started the whole conversation about me. Like you said before when you first started, duh. But there is just one thing that Luka left out."

"What's that?" He asked a little worried about what she was going to say.

"Keeping you away from me, would be nearly impossible. From the day you gave me that umbrella in the rain, I haven't been able to imagine my life without you in it." She said giving him a warm smile as a blush deepened on her cheeks.

He smiled back at her before slowly leaning in. "Marinette, I'm glad it was you."

She gave him a large smile as she leaned in. "Me too." She blushed before spluttering. "I mean you. I'm glad it was you too."

He chuckled at her mess up and closed the distance between them. "I know." He whispered before his lips touched hers in a chaste kiss.

Sadly, their sweet moment was ruined by a banging on the trap door. "Agreste! Where is Nino!? He told me everything! He is so dead when I get my hands on him!"

"And now I have to save my best friend from your best friend. Oh, the lives we lead." This got a loud laugh out of Marinette before they got up and moved the book shelf from over the trap door.

The second the weight was removed the door burst open and a rather angry girl with auburn hair came up and started shouting. "You tell me where he is Agreste or you will be joining him in the Seine!"

"Alya, he didn't start it, Luka did to try and get Adrien away from me. He actually did us a favor." Marinette defended her boyfriend and partner's best friend. "If he hadn't said anything about it being a secret Adrien wouldn't be here now."

"Not to mention he did try to divert the actual person Luka was talking about. Even though it didn't work in the end he was actually mad at Luka from telling us." Adrien added hesitantly.

"Neither of us are mad at Nino. You shouldn't be either. Especially since it was you who assured me that you _didn't tell Nino_ about my crush on Adrien. So really I should be upset with you and not you upset with Nino." Marinette shot back.

Alya stopped before her argument even left her throat. "Okay, I guess I shouldn't have told him, but it was the only way to keep him from getting hurt from your rejection."

"And ended up being with him instead." Adrien added cheekily.

"Did you break her heart Agreste?" Alya shot angrily.

"Never." He said pulling Marinette closer to him and wrapping his arms around her.

"Good. Can I tell everyone in our class then?" She asked excitedly.

The two looked at each other before shrugging. Looking back at Alya they gave a nod of agreement before the would-be reporter squealed, running downstairs while tapping away on her phone.

"The tabloids are going to explode." Marinette muttered quietly.

"Not to mention Chloe." Adrien added next to her ear.

"I will never hear the end of it." Marinette groaned.

"Don't worry Princess. Even though I know you can fight your own battles, I will be right by your side, always." He kissed the side of her head as Marinette sighed happily.

 **And that is the end of that! Weeee! We all know that Chloe will blow a gasket when she finds out. No need to add that in. But I hope you all enjoyed this story! I had a lot of fun writing it. Maybe I need to do some more one shots? They are cute and fun to work on, not to mention it isn't completely drawn out. Anyways, thanks for reading everyone! Until next time. Au revoir pour le moment!**


End file.
